Learning to Stand
by gahlifre
Summary: Leira has always grown up in the sea. However, when she finds out that she is actually human, she comes to realize through her new world that she must prevent her father from making a decision that might ruin his kingdom- and possibly even fall in love. INDEFINITELY DISCONTINUED.
1. Done

Ariel woke up in a cold sweat and huddled instinctively underneath her covers, feeling the brisk night air rush around her. She looked around and was relieved that the only thing she saw was a coarse black hue. The woman had been anticipating much worse.

Her red hair tossed around as she let out a huge sigh to calm her nerves. She desperately tried to tell herself that all she had seen was a dream. It was not real, and it could never happen. She was too safe. There were guards everywhere. Even though Eric and Melody were gone, she was safe.

The cry of a baby immediately shocked Ariel out of her thinking. She slipped back the heavy sheets, opened the door to her room, and rushed to the cradle, immediately taking the little girl out and rocking her in her arms. Softly, she hummed a melody that she had heard during one of her visits to the marketplace. Surely but slowly, the baby shut her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Ariel, making sure not to wake her up again, gently put her back to bed and pulled the covers up over her baby girl. Just as she was about to leave the room to try to go to sleep herself, she heard a noise barely audible above the howling wind sweeping the beach. After listening again, Ariel was able to identify the noise.

Quiet footsteps. Walking up the stairs. Towards her. Immediately, Ariel knew what was happening. She had expected it for months. Quickly, she whipped the covers off of her little girl and rushed back to her room. Feeling around, she was able to locate her closet. She opened the mahogany wood doors and felt inside, removing a panel from off the bottom. She stepped inside the armoire and closed the door, locking the doors with a tiny gold key she always kept in her pocket. Ariel then lowered herself and her daughter through the opening, thanking goodness that she had talked to Eric about a secret passage way in case anything ever went wrong with the royal family, which was definitely happening right now.

The opening led to a musty staircase. When she reached the bottom, she pushed open the door and felt the wind blast her with salty sea air. Ariel ran as fast as she could with a baby in her arms towards the ocean, readying herself for the cold tingle of the water. Just as she was about to step in, she came to her senses and remembered Melody and Eric. They would be worried out of their minds if she just went disappearing to Atlantica. She had to leave a note. Sure, she may be wasting time, and maybe the men could catch up to her easier, but she had to this.

That was her fatal mistake.

Ariel opened the door to reveal three tall figures in black coats walking down the stairs, staring at her with their intense blue eyes. Each one had a handgun in their pocket. She gulped and ran as fast as she possibly could to the waves. She could see the water when a hand reached to her shoulder and spun her around. Ariel was face to face with one of her attackers.

The man had blonde hair that fluttered in the nighttime air under his hat. As he saw Ariel's small face that pleaded under her long red hair, pulled back in a ponytail, he smirked. He studied the white nightgown she had on, the only thing she was wearing besides underwear. He spoke aloud.

"Just what are you doing, my queen? Trying to escape us?"

Ariel stared at him.

He laughed, a mocking, criticizing bellow. "You are escaping, aren't you? No husband to save the day for you, huh?"

She glared at the man, finally saying in a loud voice, "I am fleeing. You have guessed completely right. But by doing so, I may be able to come back and further protect my kingdom from your ways."

The guy laughed again, when suddenly his face turned stiff as stone. "Which kingdom, you bitch?"

The woman flinched at his foul language. "Both."

He started to fill up with rage her wit. Overcome with anger, he clutch his handgun, the other men behind him slowly readying up their guns as well.

"Well, I'm sorry your highness, but I don't think you'll be doing any protecting tonight," the man said eerily.

Ariel sighed and was filled with a sort of relief. All her life, she'd been expecting that when she finally died, she would be panicked and screaming. But now, she just wanted to do what was inevitable. Finally, a whisper came out of her chapped dry lips. 'Then so be it."

The man grinned and slowly pulled the gun out of his pocket and rested it on her face, the shiny metal glistening on her pale forehead. He put his thumb on the trigger.

In that moment, things happened so fast everything seemed like a blur. Ariel flung her baby daughter, who was all the while sleeping carelessly, into the air behind her- praying that she would land in water and sink to the ocean floor. The mysterious person pulled the trigger, a thundering gunshot echoing down the beach. And in that moment, Ariel fell back to the sand, a last shuddering gasp coming from her mouth before she collapsed to the ground.

The men stared at the now dead woman, yellow sand dancing around her while waves lapped her face. They looked at each other, and then silently started walking back towards the castle. There was nothing to do now. It was all done.

Done.

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><p><strong>Woo-hoo! So this is the first piece I've ever submitted! I've been meaning to put something up here ever since I discovered this website like, a month ago, but I never got around to actually writing for it. Oh. In advance, I apologize for my cruddy writing. I just have a lot of ideas and I want to get them to paper, and in doing so I totally disregard grammar and spelling. Yeah. Thanks for reading this despite the fact it's horrible! REVIEW!<strong>

**Some Further Information on the Story**: This isn't a one shot. I know it might seem like this has absolutely NOTHING to do with my description, but you will see the connection in time. I'm planning for it to have maybe fifty chapters, but based on other stories I have written, it will probably be longer. So yeah. It's winter break for me, and that means I'll be doing hopefully lots of updating. Which means that you won't have to wait in "suspense" for very long! Haha. Bye!


	2. Rumors and Stories

"Mommy! Hey Mommy, guess what?"

The young mother looked up at her daughter as she busily prepared the algae stew for dinner. Smiling, she distractedly asked, "What, princess?"

The girl could barely contain her excitement. "Today was the best day ever! You know why?"

Her mother shook her head as she sprinkled sea salt over the green bowl she had prepared. "No, honey. I don't know. Why?"

The child tossed her book bag to the floor and sat on the seashell couch. Her light purple tail swished enthusiastically, and her strawberry red curls bounced in the current. "Well, we had singing class today, and of course I love that. Marina also gave me this awesome piece of coral. But those weren't the best parts. The best part was reading time."

The woman grinned, albeit with a confused look on her face. "I thought you hated reading, Leira."

Leira jumped up and down on the couch. "Usually I do, but I found the most wonderful book. You know what it was about?"

The mother chuckled at all of the little girl's questions. "I'm sure I don't know what it was about, sweetie. Was it about an octopus?"

The child shook her head, obviously exasperated at her mother's answer. "No Mom. It was about a mermaid."

"Oh! What did the mermaid do?" the woman absentmindedly questioned, busy making sure her meal was just right.

"Well, it started off talking about the fact that she was a princess, and her best friend was a tiny yellow fish." Leira said.

"Mmm-hmm."

"And she was really interested in the world of humans."

Her mother stopped stirring the bowl with her spatula immediately after her daughter mentioned the word _human_. "What did you say?"

"She was really interested in the world of humans," the child repeated, realizing this probably wasn't the best thing to mention in front of her mother.

The woman put her hands on her hips as her pink tail rushed back and forth. "Go on," she harshly said.

"So, since she was really interested, she collected all of these human objects and stored them in her grotto, which no one knew about except for her best friend."

Leira's mom stiffened. She recognized this story, In fact, she knew it very well. The woman steely replied, "Please continue the story, princess. I want to hear all of it. All of it."

The girl swallowed. "One night, she went up above the water and found a thing called… a ship. That's right. And she saw this beautiful human prince. Then a storm came in, and he almost drowned, because he saved his… um, dog before himself. But he didn't drown, because the mermaid rescued him- however, she went back to the ocean before he woke up from unconsciousness."

"Before long, the princess came to love him. The prince I mean. And… and she really wanted to become a human herself. Explore his world. Her fish friend even brought her a statue shaped in his likeness," Leira uneasily said.

"Then the mermaid's father found about her grotto, and he destroyed everything in it. She… she got really mad and went to the sea witch to see if she could somehow meet the human." The child looked at her mother, who still had her arms crossed. A strange look of both anger and sadness was etched on her face. The little girl gulped again. "Should I continue, Mommy?"

The mother looked at her daughter and quietly whispered, "Yes."

"Well, the witch told her she could turn her human for three days in exchange for her voice. And the mermaid could remain a human if she was able to kiss the prince with true love in those days- or else she would belong to the sea witch forever and never have her voice back." The girl glanced at her mother. She was obviously upset because of something she said. Not wanting to antagonize her, the child again asked if she should continue with the book's story. Again, the young woman said yes.

"They… they fell in love, and almost kissed, but the witch made sure they didn't. She, she, um… changed herself into a beautiful woman to win the prince's heart. The sea witch did win his heart with the spell, and the mermaid princess was very sad. The sea witch and the prince were going to marry, and she didn't feel that she could do anything. But with help from her friends and the prince, she was able to reveal the woman's identity and kill the witch once and for all." Leira finished quickly, wanting to change subjects.

"What happened at the end?" her mother muttered.

Leira shifted uncomfortably. "What do you mean? She and the prince killed the sea witch. I told you that."

"No. What else happened?"

The little child immediately smiled, disregarding all of the tension in the room. "Of course. The mermaid princess and the human prince married. And they lived happily ever after. Isn't that so romantic and beautiful?"

"Happily ever after," her mother repeated silently, not caring about her child's question. Suddenly remembering that she was to be a role model for the girl, she regained her composure, "Leira, honey, I don't want you to read that book again." She sternly said.

Leira looked quizzically at her mother. "But Mommy, it's just a story- a fairy tale."

The woman looked at her daughter. How could she begin to answer why she couldn't read that book? Instead, she sighed and said, "Just sit at the table, Leira. Your father will be here soon for dinner." The little girl sat down, and immediately started talking again.

"Mommy, some other things happened at school today." The child said, hoping to make amends with her mother.

"What happened?"

"I was talking to my friends at playtime about this book and Lance- you know him, right?" Her mother nodded.

The girl stared at her and said, "He said that he heard his parents talking about Ariel, you know, the seventh princess of King Triton that died a few years ago of a jellyfish sting? Well, they said that she, she was a human and that she married a human and they had… children. Mommy, what if there _are _humans?" A long pause ensued. "And what if Ariel was one?" Leira inquired.

The child's mother stood still in rage. She couldn't take it anymore. If her daughter mentioned one more word about humans and Ariel…

"Leira! That is enough. Humans are not real, and that's final. All you have heard is stories and rumors. Nothing true, nothing important." Her mother yelled.

Leira glared at her and screamed back. "Well if land isn't real and humans aren't real, then how do we get night and day? Why do we see strange things pass over the water? Why? Why can't anyone tell me?"

The woman looked at her daughter. "It just isn't time yet."

The girl stared at her mom. "It is time! I want to know! I WANT TO KNOW!"

In that moment, the young mother did not think about her reaction. But everybody in that house heard the slap, and Leira definitely felt the red hot pain on her cheek. Realizing what she had done, the ashamed woman touched her hand to the child's face. The little girl instantly brushed her hand off and swam to her bedroom, locking the door behind her.

Feeling guilty for what she had done, the mother put her algae stew and seaweed sandwiches on the table. Then, she pulled out a chair and stared into space, mulling over what she had done.

No more than five minutes later, a man walked into the house, his brow beading with sweat after a hard day's work. He smiled as he looked around his home, but his beam went away when he noticed the frown on his wife's face. "What's wrong, angelfish?" he asked.

"Problems with Leira, as usual. Asking about humans," the woman groaned. She looked at him and then quietly added, "I got really mad at that, and well, I slapped her," she sighed and then started to cry, creating a mini-current around her.

Her husband put an arm around her shoulders, comforting her- his dirty blond hair whisking around. He softly whispered, "I know you were just mad. I understand."

The woman stared at him and indignantly got up from her chair. "No, you don't understand. You don't. She wants to know so badly about everything. She's beginning to wonder, and she has some pretty good arguments. I just don't know when, or much less how, to tell her everything she wants to know." The mother sniffled even more, and her husband brought her face up to his.

"Baby, I know you are very unsure about Leira's future. But let me tell you that in the end, everything is going to be alright," the man said.

The mother warily looked at him and weakly smiled. "I hope you're right," she whispered.

He picked his wife up and swung her around the room, her black hair fluttering around. She laughed and in a split moment their lips met and released. His eyes twinkled at his love as he whispered back, "Have I ever been wrong?"

* * *

><p><strong>Finally, an update! So this is mostly a filler chapter, to introduce you to Leira's family and show to what lengths the people of Atlantica have gone to keep the truth of humans and Ariel's death secret. And for the die-hard Little Mermaid friends, you may notice something familiar about Leira's mom and dad...<strong>

**So yes! Hope you guys enjoyed! And as always, REVIEW!**

**More to come soon!**


	3. Just One More Word

"Leira, please make sure you are safe today. I don't want you to get hurt," the woman said.

Leira sighed. "Mom, I'm only going to pick up Nautica from the palace, and then we're going to race, like we do every single Saturday."

The mother smiled. "I know, but I just couldn't bear it if you were injured," she quietly said to her daughter.

The girl rolled her eyes, a slight grin creeping up on her face. She then swished out the door, shutting it behind her.

Leira started swimming towards the sparkling gold castle to meet up with her friend so they could have a swimming race outside of the city. Nautica's mother was one of King Triton's own personal advisors, and her family lived in the palace itself, so that is where Leira knew she had to go.

In about half an hour she was in the huge network of limestone archways, paths, and crossings. The girl marveled at how pretty and magnificent this castle was, but was surprised at the few number of merpeople about. Usually at this time of day, there were millions of them, doing errands for the king and his daughters, the princesses.

As she contemplated on this peculiarity, Leira suddenly stopped to touch a beautiful silver statue of a mermaid playing the lyre. Admiring it, she did not notice the elderly merman approaching behind her.

"That's one of my favorite statues too," the man said. Startled, Leira turned around to find herself face to face with the ruler of Atlantica, King Triton.

"Your majesty. I am so sorry," the girl muttered, bowing to him in respect. She looked up to see if he was upset. Would he blast her with his trident?

"No need for that, Leira. Now, if I may ask, why are you here?" the man questioned. The girl sighed. An easy question, and no blast from his golden, looming trident.

"I'm going to pick up my friend, Nautica. She is the daughter of one of your court advisors," Leira answered fairly nervously.

The king beamed in recognition. "Ah, yes. The daughter of Corala. I know her very well. Well then, be on your way. It was nice talking to you, Leira."

"Good talking to you too, your majesty," Leira immediately replied. She watched the old man as he swam away, his blue tail trailing behind him, and his white beard swaying in the ocean. The girl, who was just about to turn so she could continue swimming on toward her friend, watched with confusion as King Triton unexpectedly turned back and stared at her.

With a saddened expression, he said, "Please, Leira, just call me Triton." Then, he turned away- this time for good.

The girl was shocked. The king hardly told anyone to call him Triton; just his close family and friends were allowed to call him by his first name. she stood there, dumbfounded, wondering why in the whole sea the king of Atlantica would ask her, a commoner, to address him by his real name. Not the man's title. His actual, real name.

Out of the corner of her eye, Leira saw a flash of yellow coming towards her. Her mind quickly warned her to jump out of the way, but, however, she was not quick enough to avoid Nautica.

"Finally, Leira! You're here! Do you know that you are like, ten minutes late? And you're usually to my apartment by then, not out in the castle gardens doing nothing!" her friend burst out.

Leira laughed. "Nice to see you too, Nautie," she giggled.

Nautica grinned back and started to swim, motioning for Leira to follow her. "C'mon Lee. Let's race. I'm tired of this stuffy palace," her friend said.

Leira just smiled, and Nautica looked at her, expecting her friend to be much more animated. "You are coming, right Lee?"

The girl looked at Nautica. "I will be right there, Nautie," Leira said. Nautica beamed and then swam off towards the white sands of the city below, the colorful coral and other plants surrounding the castle swaying as she rushed off.

Reluctantly, Leira followed in the way of her friend. As she swam slowly along to the racing grounds, she abruptly remembered the look on the king's face as he told her to call him Triton. And suddenly, the girl realized something about that face that she hadn't before. Leira realized it was a face of longing, like the king wished he could say more to her, but somehow couldn't. Like he wanted to say just one more word. One word, Something more. But what?

Leira shrugged. She simply wanted to have a fun weekend with her best friend. But in the back of her mind, Triton kept nagging at her head- his unrelenting voice, asking her to call him by his first name. The one word the king so wanted to say. But what could that one word be? Again, Leira decided that she shouldn't really worry about that. There was nothing else she could possibly do about it.

* * *

><p><strong>Yay updates! I'm surprised by how deep I'm actually getting into this story. I seriously can't stop thinking about it. And thank you so much to all of you who reviewed! I'm also HUGELY shocked that people like this story so much. It's definitely not one of my best writings, and I know some things probably don't make a lot of sense. If you do have any questions about my story, please feel free to ask.<strong>

**Yes, I'm sorry about leaving you in so much suspense regarding Eric and Melody. In about two chapters or so, their fates shall be revealed... DUN DUN DUN!**

**Again and as always, thanks to everyone who is reading this story, and I hope you enjoyed it! Love you all!**


	4. Could It All Be a Lie?

"Goodness Lee, you are so slow today. What's the matter?" Nautica asked, concerned, as her friend came swimming up to her.

"Nothing. Nothing is the matter. I just needed to think a while, that's all. Let's go race now, okay?" Leira dejectedly replied. Nautica grinned. Lee was finally acting like herself with wanting to go race.

"Of course!" Nautica laughed, as she dashed off from the city, her yellow tail beating rapidly.

Despite all of her problems, Leira laughed as well. It was just a regular Saturday morning with her friend, nothing else. It didn't matter if the king of Atlantica had just asked her to call him by his first name, as if she was family. It didn't matter at all. Not at all. Grinning as she forgot her troubles, she sped off in the direction of Nautica.

Before she knew it, they were at the racing grounds. The racing grounds were only about a twenty-minute swim from the city below the palace, but it seemed like another world. There was a path of pure white sand about five miles long, and half a mile wide. On the sides of the track, stunning sea life and plants contrasted greatly with the white. It had to be Leira's favorite place in the whole ocean.

The girls stared at each other, They knew what to do. "Okay, Lee. On the count of three, we will begin the race. One, two…"

They smiled. Nautica then shouted, THREE!" and the friends were off. Leira watched as purple and yellow mixed together and the water rushed around them. The girl felt her tail swish even more furiously as she raced to beat Nautie. The girl looked at the ground below her, turning her head from side to side to avoid any obstacles. White sand and coral flashed below her, a never-ending seam of beauty. Then, she saw a rip in this elegance- a hole, maybe a few feet wide. Leira stopped and swam towards this hole, somehow immediately intrigued. Far off in her brain, she could hear Nautica shouting at her.

Leira was near the opening when Nautie suddenly pulled on her shoulder. "What are you doing, Lee? Why did you stop racing?"

She pointed to the hole. "I want to search in there, if you don't mind," she said to Nautica.

Her friend shook her head. "Why? It could be dangerous. Please, Lee. Don't go in there. What do I tell your mom if you get hurt?"

Leira smirked. "It will be fine, Nautie. I never get to explore anything. This could finally be a chance to discover something no one ever has before!"

Nautica shook her head again. "So you can now just look at a hole and decide that it is going to change your life, Leira? I promise you- it won't. _Come on_. I want to finish the race. We were doing so well," her friend complained.

Leira looked into her friend's eyes. "Please, Nautica. Just one look."

The girl sighed and motioned towards the hole. "Go in there then. I'll follow you," Nautica reluctantly responded.

Lee hugged her friend and then barely managed to slip herself through the opening. When she got inside, the girl could hardly believe her eyes.

The hole had led to a cave-like place. Around the walls of the round area, there were natural shelves made of obsidian. It was almost like… Leira searched for a word in her mind in vain.

While searching for the name, she inspected the shelves and could smell a faint, foul scent. Looking at the shelves, the girl saw a kind of black type of sand strewn among pieces of rusted, shredded items. She glanced at Nautie, who was sitting on one of the shelves near the exit of the cave. "It looks like everything was destroyed in here, Nautica. What do you think happened?" Leira asked her friend.

Nautie shrugged. "I don't know, Lee. Can we go now?"

Leira weakly grinned. "Soon. I…" A gleaming piece of metal caught her eye. The girl swam down to the bottom of the cave and picked up the object, wide-eyed.

The object was a statue of a human man and woman holding each other. Their feet matched up on the pedestal, like they were about to waltz far away. The girl stared at the sight. She looked around the cave again, and suddenly remembered a story that she had read once about a place like this. She could not recall the tale, but for some unknown reason Leira knew that it was a beautiful one. The girl picked up the statue and gazed at it, smiling at her friend. "Isn't it wonderful, Nautie?"

Nautica looked at Leira. "No, Lee. We really should not be here. I have a bad feeling about this place," the girl said. "Let's leave."

"Why? Why, Nautica? It's so beautiful and mysterious. See, I told you we could discover something! Look at this statue! How could you ever want to leave something so amazing?" Leira whispered to her friend. A she saw the unconvinced face of her friend, she "Come on, Nautie! This… what if… what if this proves that… humans are real? I mean, I've never seen any pictures or statues of humans except for in… in a book I once read. The person who could have created this… they could have seen humans," she said back.

Her friend immediately looked at her. "We are going now, Lee. This… this is just stupid. All of this… human talk," her friend spat out.

Leira sighed. She forgot it was best not to talk to Nautie about the possibility of humans. Her friend got very upset when that subject was brought up. Actually, almost everybody Leira knew got upset when she brought up humans. However, she knew her friend was right. They probably shouldn't be around here. Whatever this place was, it was important. Too important for young, teenage mermaids like themselves.

She stared at her friend and nodded. "You're right, Nautica. I think we should go home," Leira said.

Nautie glared at her. "Why home? I thought we were going to finish our race!"

The girl stared back at her friend. "I don't feel up to it now. I need to go home," she said.

Nautica sputtered in disbelief. "What is wrong with you? First, you take forever to get to the racing grounds. Then, you stop a completely good race so you can explore a ridiculous cave! And then you talk about humans, above all things. What is going on, Leira? Why can't you just tell me?" Her brown hair suddenly got into her eyes as she was arguing, and Nautica blew on it indignantly.

Leira knew she was making her friend angry, but she had to return home. "I am so sorry, Nautie," she replied, "but I must get home."

Before her friend could respond, she swam out of the cave as fast as she could and headed home. Soon, Leira was at her house. She opened the door to find her parents looking at some pictures and some other articles longingly. With a look of surprise at the girl, her parents immediately put the things they were looking at behind the couch, much to Leira's confusion. Her mom looked up at her and nervously pulled a lock of black hair behind her ear. "Hello, Lee. We… weren't expecting you here so early. What happened? Is something wrong?"

Leira weakly simpered at her parents as she headed up to her room in their little white coral home. "Oh no. Nothing happened. Nothing's wrong. Just a usual Saturday, like always," she replied, as she acknowledged the relieved looks on her parents' faces.

As the girl shut the door to her room behind her, Leira began to have a feeling that something strange was going on in this city. There was something interesting going on.

There was something somebody was hiding from her.

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><p><strong>Sorry. Another semi-boring chapter. Sometimes, you just got to have a lot of boring, kind of interesting chapters to set the scene, characters, and events before you whip out the whole shebang. In the next chapter, there will be action, I promise. And in the chapter after that, the outcome of Melody and Eric will be uncovered! Just consider those two chapters my (late) Christmas gift to you.<strong>

**Again, hope you enjoyed! New chapters should be up on December 26. Happy Holidays!**


	5. The Storm

Days, then weeks, and then months slipped away from that unusual Saturday. But that did not mean that Leira became any less paranoid and insecure about her life in Atlantica. In fact, time had made her even more so.

The girl knew she could never talk to anyone about her experiences, especially her mother. But Leira did know that she had to find out what it seemed like everybody was keeping from her. The girl poured through books of Atlantican history to try and figure out what that hole had been, but to no avail. She searched through her house to try and find any evidence of a secret being kept. All of those efforts were fruitless.

The only good thing that happened during those months was the fact that she and Nautica made up from their previous arguments. Sure, there still was a bit of tension among the girls on the subject of humans, but at least Leira had a friend to get her through the days.

However, one day while she was left at home by her mother, who was out grocery shopping, Leira remembered that on that Saturday, her parents had been looking at something, but then had hurriedly put it back in a box and behind the couch. _They must have been keeping something hidden if they put it back there_, the girl reasoned. She looked at the clock to see how much time she would have before her mom came home. Usually it took her about fifteen minutes to go shopping, which meant-Leira had only about four minutes to get that box and put it in her room.

The girl rushed over to the couch and, when she spotted it, lifted the heavy container into her arms and then painfully floated up to her room, opened the door, and put it behind her clam bed. After staring at her accomplishment for a few seconds, she heard her mother open the door to the house, and Leira went down to greet her and help unload groceries.

Even more weeks passed since that episode, and Leira's mental health deteriorated. The girl began to notice that when anybody asked about her personal life, she became very angry and argumentative. Leira also realized that it seemed like she never wanted to do anything anymore. She couldn't even bring herself to go racing with Nautica, in fear that she would find the hole again. Finally, Leira understood that she wanted to talk to somebody about her experiences, but the girl wasn't sure she could even trust anyone with all of her doubts and fears. She couldn't even look at the box she had stolen from behind the couch, afraid of what she might find in there. So her life's new purpose came at a standstill.

As yet increased time flew by, Leira knew she had to talk with someone. Oh, she knew there would be consequences asking about humans and whether her parents were keeping anything from her, but she had to it anyway.

Only the girl didn't realize how dire the consequences would actually be.

It was a late Friday night, and her father had just come home from work. She was talking to him about her boring hours at school, and in return he was nodding tiredly. After a few moments of this, her father announced that he was going to bed. He kissed his wife and daughter and then, green tail swishing and his blonde hair swaying in the current, he shut the limestone door to her parents' room. Leira was now alone with her mother.

There was silence for a while, before Leira decided to speak up. "Mother, I want to talk to you about something."

Her mother immediately put the book down that she was reading at the kitchen counter. "What about, princess?"

"Well, you know how on that Saturday, you asked me if anything was wrong, because I was home so early…"

"Oh, yes. I remember that," her mother replied.

"Um… something was wrong," Leira sheepishly answered.

The woman stared at her daughter in concern. "What was?"

"There was just some things that happened," the girl nervously replied.

"Like what?"

"I was on my way to the palace to pick up Nautica when I swam into King Triton, you see," she began.

Leira watched as her mother looked at her with a somewhat suspicious gaze. "What did he say to you?" she asked icily.

"Nothing important. The whole reason I met him was because I was admiring this sculpture and then he remarked that he liked it too. He asked me why I was there, and I told him it was because of Nautie. But after that…" the girl trailed off.

"What happened?" her mother nervously asked.

"He asked me to call him Triton, like I was his family or something," Leira timidly said.

"Or something," the woman muttered. Leira looked at her mom, confused by the comment. She wasn't for long however, as her mother immediately regained her composure. "Did anything else happen, sweetheart?" she inquired politely.

"Yes. So then, Nautica found me, and we went to the racing grounds. While we were racing, I stopped because I saw this hole in the ground. When Nautica and I went through it, we were in this cave, which was covered with black sand and smelled horribly," Leira continued.

Her mother appeared stunned for a minute and then barely heard her mother whisper something. It sounded like 'her grotto', but Leira had no idea what a 'grotto' was, so she did not think about the remark much.

She decided to continue with her story. "So then…" Leira thought better of going on. What if her mother got angry when she mentioned the statue of the humans?

"What?" the woman inquired.

"Do you promise you will not get upset if I tell you what I found there?" the girl whispered.

Leira's mother stared at her daughter and wondered what she possibly could have found in this 'cave' that prompted her to ask her own mom not to get upset. In her mind, she knew something enormous, but she was a mother- she was supposed to support her child through everything, right?

"You can always tell me anything, Leira," her mother stated.

The girl was thrilled and instantly resumed her story. "Well, I found this statue in there. It was of two humans- a woman and a man. And when I saw it, I thought… what if humans are real? This statue could prove it. Think about it, Mother. Hardly anybody has ever drawn or sculpted humans. I think I only saw a picture of a human in a book once, and I'm not even sure about that. Mostly, you just hear stories or rumors about them, and the reason for this that almost everyone has given me is because of the fact that they don't exist- so no one knows, really, how to draw them. And since humans are not real, it is a waste of time to draw them, so then, only a slight number of people try to. But if there is such an intricate sculpture of humans, as I saw in the cave, then maybe that merperson saw a human, and carved it to remember the experience. Wouldn't that be amazing?"

The woman let out a deep sigh. She knew this would happen. The moment Leira asked her not to be upset she should have known it. Almost at once, she was transported back to a day long ago, when her daughter had only been about six years old. That conversation they had had that evening resulted in a slap from the mention of humans. Who knew how this could end.

She decided however, that she must face this situation as rationally as she could. The mother looked at Leira. "Yes of course," she enthusiastically said, all the while wishing that her daughter would be satisfied with her answer and let her go back to bed to think on things.

But the girl wasn't satisfied. Somehow, Leira knew that her mother was upset with her, but wasn't willing to show it. And at that minute, seeing her suppress her feelings, the girl could no longer control _he_r feelings. She had, _had _to know why her mother did not like the subject of humans. If humans were just stories, people wouldn't be so fidgety around the topic. Leira had to know.

"Just tell me the truth," Leira tiredly said to her parent.

Her mother stared at her, eyes wide. "What?"

"Stop asking questions and trying to avoid me, Mom. Just tell me the truth about everything. Atlantica. Humans. Me," Leira began. Then she stopped, gazing at the woman. "You."

"I don't know what you are implying," her mother simply said.

Leira sighed. "It's obvious you're keeping secrets, Mother! Just tell me the truth!" the girl said, exasperated. I'm fourteen years old, for goodness's sake! I deserve to know!"

Her mom tried not to shout her words. "There are just some things you don't need to know, Leira! You can't know everything!"

Anger boiled inside the girl. "If I want to know everything I can! It's my right!"

The temperature in the room escalated as the woman yelled, "Who ever said it was your right? WHO EVER SAID IT WAS YOUR RIGHT?"

"Me! ME! I did! JUST TELL ME THE TRUTH ABOUT EVERYTHING RIGHT NOW! IS THAT SO HARD TO DO?" Leira screamed at the top of her voice.

Her mother tried to restrain herself from whacking her daughter upside the head, while at the same time she tried to hold tears back because of the memories that had suddenly flowed into her mind. As she tried to recuperate, the woman stared at Leira and wondered why she just couldn't leave some subjects alone. At the moment, there was only one thing the woman could think to do. She stared at the girl and murmured, "Please, Leira. Go to your room. Right now."

Leira muttered a word that sounded like "fine" under her breath and then headed to her room. She slammed the door closed, then sat on her bed and cried.

Hours later, the girl woke up in her room to darkened waters, which meant it was night. Not feeling the least bit sleepy, Leira tried to think of what to do. She debated going down and trying to talk with her mother about the situation. It was obvious that she was upset with the topic at hand, and even though Leira was mad at her, she didn't want to provoke her mom. Then, she abruptly recalled the box.

It was still behind her bed, unopened. Though in the past she had been afraid to open it, afraid of what her punishment would be, Leira didn't care. She was already in plenty of trouble that looking at one little box really couldn't harm her.

Pulling the heavy object across the floor and setting herself near it, the girl opened the box to find it filled with pictures and other mementos.

Leira pulled them out, one by one. At first, it was just boring pictures of her parents in their younger days, when they had been in high school, as well as clips of report cards and diplomas, receipts and cards.

Next came the pictures and such of herself as a baby and young girl. Her first swim outside of Atlantica by herself, her first day of school, her conch recital, and many more events had all been chronicled by her parents and put inside this box.

Following, Leira saw very recent photographs of herself, hanging out with her family and friends, along with school and sports functions. _Nothing revealing_, she thought. _No secrets here. Maybe I'm just being extremely paranoid over all this._

The girl, downhearted at the prospect that she could be wrong, was just about done and ready to put everything back in the box when she noticed that there was still a photo in the box that she had overlooked. Attached to the front of the photo, there was a note written on yellowing paper. Carefully, Leira picked it up. She decided to read the letter first.

On closer inspection, Leira noticed just how detailed and perfect the cursive in the note was. Quickly looking over it, she observed that it was addressed to her mother. The girl read the note.

_Dear Gabbie,_

_I'm sorry it's taken such a long time to write back to you. I have just been so busy with the duties of the palace, I haven't had any time to._

_Everything is going well here. I thought you might have wanted to see a photo of the family. The girls are growing up so fast! Little Lee is already two years old, and Melody is now a young woman- fourteen years! Can you believe it?_

_Hope I can visit Atlantica soon. I love you. Be sure to say hi to Urchin for me._

_Your friend,_

_Ariel_

Leira shook her head in shock. The name Ariel sounded so familiar at the minute, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it or whose name it was- much less why this mermaid would have written her mom. It was also plain to see that this woman was not from Atlantica, and as far as Leira knew, her mother had never had any friends outside the city.

The biggest surprise though, was the fact of seeing her nickname in the letter. Sure, it was entirely plausible that this Ariel had also had a girl named Lee, but Leira couldn't get over the fact that this note seemed to mention her.

Overwhelmed with curiosity, she pulled the paper clip off that connected the letter to the photo. And there was waiting the biggest shock of all.

When she first saw it, Leira tried to make sure that it wasn't a drawing. Soon however, she realized it wasn't one. It was a perfect specimen of a photograph. This fact brought a very mixed array of feelings- relief, happiness, sadness, and anger. She thought the feelings would never end. But the girl understood that there was no denying it wasn't real.

The photo was of a family- a woman, a man, and two girls about fourteen and two years old. Except for they weren't merpeople. They were humans.

The woman was holding a baby while the man was gazing at her lovingly, which Leira assumed meant that he was her wife. The fourteen-year-old girl was sitting on the floor, smiling at the camera, her dark hair in a ponytail. All in all, it was a very nice photo of a family.

Leira studied the faces of the humans. It was noticeable that the older girl was the man and woman's daughter- she looked like a perfect blend of her parents. The mother's face was beautiful, albeit seeming fragile and pale, with the man's face sharply contrasting with hers- his face was tan and strong. The girl squinted to see if she could look at the baby's face. Her eyes widened as she came to understand whose face that was.

It was hers.

Leira immediately dropped the photo in recognition of her infant self. She picked it up again and studied the newborn's face, barely poking out of the blanket wrapped around her. The face was turned slightly towards the camera, the mouth of the child stuck in a sleepy frown. But the eyebrows, face shape, and squinted eyes were definitely hers.

After sitting for what seemed like years on the floor trying to absorb all of this, Leira realized that she had to ask her- what should she even call her anymore? Guardian? Stranger? Kidnapper?- about the photo. She would know what to do. And maybe, if she saw it, she would tell her daughter the truth of everything.

Slowly, Leira opened the door and swam out towards the living room. She vaguely realized that the current was stronger than normal, but that did not matter over the pressing issue of the photograph. Eyeing around, the girl tried to find her mother. Finally, she spotted her mother on the next landing, gripping the kitchen counter with all of her might.

Over the howl of the water, Leira yelled at her mother to look at the photo in her hand, not noticing all the household items floating around her. However, no matter how hard she shouted, her mother kept gesturing for her to go back to her room. She didn't budge. She had come this far. The girl would not go to her room.

Again and again, Leira saw her mother open her mouth and gesture towards her room. The current was now pushing so hard against her the girl could not ignore it. She held the photograph again and held it up to her mother, who just mouthed words she could not hear.

Leira caught onto the handle of her door and tried desperately to hang on as the current raced against her. Minutes passed, and the water was still strong as ever. The girl realized that she was steadily loosing her grip on the door handle.

Leira suddenly felt herself, against her will, floating away. All she could hear was the water and the soft sounds of screaming. The currents pulled her back and forth, and whipped her from side to side, before she flew through space and landed on a cold, grainy material.

For some reason, the girl felt a cool substance all around her, whizzing past her body. She also felt her tail hurt- it felt like it was being split in two. She tried to suck in some water, but found no relief. There was nothing but the substance.

And that's when everything slipped into a black nothingness.

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><p><strong>Finally, your holiday gift! This is by far the longest chapter I have written! There was just so much that needed to be said, as you can see.<strong>

**The Melody and Eric chapter will be up tomorrow. i just have to write a few more paragraphs and edit it, and it will be up!**

**As always, I hope this story was enjoyable! **


	6. Memories Can Hurt

Grimsby marched his way through the endless corridors of the palace, holding a huge stack of papers for the king to sign and look over. His feet knew the way by heart, turning from passage to passage in the maze of halls.

In a few minutes, he found himself at the study. Grimsby knocked once on the wooden door. Nothing. He knocked again, this time harder than the knock before. Still nothing. Grimsby waited for a few moments to see if Eric would open the door himself. Nothing. The man sighed and turned the doorknob itself, surprised at the fact that it wasn't locked. He stepped into the room.

Almost immediately, Grimsby practically retched at the smell. It reeked of musty books and unfinished, rotting meals. He looked over at the king.

Eric was sitting at his desk, which was filled with scraps of paper, books, pens, crumbs, and things the old man did not want to even know the identity of. The king had his chin cupped in his hands as he looked at the tiny piece of vellum on his bureau.

He looked a sight too. He was only in his blue cotton pants and white shirt, with no type of shoes or boots on at all. His black hair was hopelessly tangled, and it was obvious that he hadn't combed through it or cut it for months. The king's skin and body did not seem any better. His skin was very pale, almost see-through. His ribs easily showed through his shirt. His arms and legs were fraught with cuts and bruises.

Grimsby hated to see him like this. But he knew Eric's state would probably never change. He had been like this for almost twelve years, after Ariel and Melody had died that fateful year. No one could persuade him to do anything but the necessities- eat, drink, and sleep- and sometimes even those were hard to convince the king to do. Desperately, the old man wanted the former Eric back- the one who wanted to explore the world, meet new people, and see new things. Not sit around in his study all day, reliving memories.

However, he couldn't think about that right now. He had to deliver the legal papers to Eric. Grimsby slowly and deliberately coughed, trying to catch the man's attention. After several coughs, he looked up. He sighed. "What do you want, Grimsby?"

The old man gazed at him sadly. "Some more papers arrived today, sir. You just need to look over and sign a few of them. Then you'll be done," he calmly said.

Eric sighed again and turned back to the scrap on his desk. "Maybe later. I don't have time for them right now."

Grimsby nodded and placed them on the velvet brown couch in the corner of the study, "I'll just leave them here, then, if you don't mind."

The king nodded, having no awareness of what his advisor had just said. Grimsby exhaled, and carefully closed the entrance to the study.

Eric continued to stare at the paper on his desk, thinking intensely. There was a drawing on the paper. It wasn't very good- just stick figures of people, like a first grader had drawn it. In fact, a first-grader _had_ drawn it. Melody had.

He remembered the project well. Melody had talked about it constantly at dinner. The children were doing a unit about families, and were assigned to draw their own as homework. Eric smiled as he recalled the many hours Ariel and him had sat in the living room posing as models for their daughter, the young girl admonishing them if they even moved an inch. And after all her hard work, this is what it turned out to be.

The drawing was of a man and woman standing on the beach, holding hands. Eric recognized himself by the blue lines of his legs and black streak of marker atop his head. He recognized Ariel too, for Melody's attempt at her purple gown, which she had worn on many occasions. He also identified her by the curly lines of red drawn from her head. In the corner of the drawing, by the blue waves of the sea, was Melody herself, one eye facing her parents, one eye facing the ocean. Black lines of hair were drawn from her head, and she was wearing a yellow dress.

Eric pushed his chair back a minute as he contemplated how accurate Melody's drawing of her family was, despite the fact it looked like a cat had somehow had a marker in its hand when it died. It was true, he spent much time with Ariel in those days. Melody was usually off at school or in some kind of lesson. And, as always, the young girl had been obsessed with the sea- for good reason, considering her mother was a mermaid.

Painfully, memories of those years with his daughter and wife streamed into his mind. Snow days, playing in the grass, market visits, and warm nights by the fire with hot chocolate. Then, memories of the birth of his second daughter, Leira, came into his mind. Teaching her his name, along with colors, and numbers. Playing with her. Singing with Ariel to gently lure her to sleep. Melody's fascination in being an older sister. Tears began to fill his eyes as he remembered those wonderful days, however quick they went by. Soon, he was quietly sobbing, wondering how he could have possibly saved his family from their terrible fates.

Silently, Grimsby watched his king from the crack of the unclosed door. His eyes began to fill with tears as well. It looked like all those stacks of papers would not be looked at again today. But that didn't matter. He could wait.

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><p><strong>Here it is. The long-awaited chapter! Well, I guess not really... Oh, whatever.<strong>

**While writing this, I seriously cried. I find that funny. A character that doesn't exist can move me to tears...**

**Yes, I'm sorry. Melody is dead. How? Well, we'll have to find that out in the next chapters, won't we?**

**Thanks for reading! REVIEW!**


	7. Answers to Be Found

Leira opened her eyes and felt light shine unmercifully onto her face. Fully opening her eyes, she was surprised to find a green, soft material all around her. As she looked up, the girl saw a beautiful golden orb glowing, while a vast expanse of blue welcomed her above. She picked up one of the pieces of the green element and felt its smooth texture. Leira took a deep breath of the clear substance she could feel whisking around her. She decided this place smelled… alive.

She glanced down to her bottom half, surprised not to find a tail there, but human legs. Gingerly, the girl touched her foot and felt a soft tingle race through her body. Ecstatic, she tried to stand up, pushing her new body up from the green- only to fall back down to the ground again.

After a few dozen failed attempts at this, the girl resorted to sitting down, staring at the green in front of her. It seemed to go on forever. While marveling at this amazing setting, she vaguely noticed the outlines of a human woman in the distance. Squinting her eyes to see more clearly, Leira saw a white, flowing gown.

As the woman got closer to her, the girl was able to see her face. It was beautifully pale, and locks of wondrous red hair shaped the human's face. A golden crown was placed upon her head.

Leira couldn't help but notice a strange, familiar feeling on glimpsing this human. It was like she had seen her before, somehow. The girl watched, entranced, as the woman continued to walk towards her.

Soon, she was just a couple of inches away from the girl. Leira gasped as the woman smiled at her and then sat on the ground beside her. Timidly, the red-haired beauty reached her hand out and touched the girl's face. Slowly, Leira found she was moving to touch the woman's hand with her own. When their hands met, the girl felt her body instantly fill with warmth. For several minutes, the pair remained this way, basking in the coziness of each other's touch.

Much to quickly, the woman stood up and gazed sadly at Leira's face, picking herself off the ground and walking away. The girl desperately tried to follow her, but could not. She shouted after the human, begging her to come back-

Leira opened her eyes and felt light shine unmercifully onto her face. As she looked in front of her, she saw the blue waves of the sea crashing onto the grainy substance she was on. Little by little, he girl came to realize, sadly, that the woman was all a dream. She was not real, and never would be. Though, as she opened her eyes fully, she noticed that the setting was not a dream at all. The golden orb still hung above her head, surrounded by azure. Captivated, the girl looked down at her lower half, like she had in the dream, and almost fainted at the sight of it.

She was human.

Two perfect legs lay right in front of her eyes. She rubbed them, trying to make sure her mind was not playing tricks with her. But after rubbing them for ages, she gradually came to realize that they were real. Giddily, she tried to stand up, ready to dance into the golden sunlight-

THWUMP.

Leira fell smack dab on the ground, touching her sore bottom. She tried to stand up again, sure that she would be able to walk now.

Same thing.

Needless to say, he was frustrated. Why couldn't she stand up? That's all she had ever wanted to do, ever since she was a child. Ever since she, Leira finally remembered, had picked up that wonderful story in the library at school. That wonderful book, thrown into that derelict corner with cobwebs and other dust on it. About a prince, and a princess, and a happily ever after…

She found herself standing up again. Instead of falling down however, like she expected herself to, Leira stood, wobbly, feeling the yellow grains beneath her feet, feeling the strange clear substance race around her. She felt like she could take on anything at that moment. Probably even a shark.

The mention of the blue sea brought her back down to the ground at last, and Leira started wondering. Wondering how she could be human, why her parents had never told her she actually was one, how the world she had loved and lived in for so long could keep such a big secret from her. Nautica, her parents- everyone. Even King Triton, for goodness' sake.

But even though she was mad, furious even, at the lies that her world had made, Leira felt conflicted. She wanted to explore this world that she had landed in, but she couldn't bear abandoning her own. All the good times, the places she loved so much. She would be leaving them. She sat in silence as she watched the waves, contemplating and weighing the pros and cons.

The lies were eventually the final draw. The promise of a new world wasn't too bad either. And the picture that she had managed to hold onto throughout the storm. The picture of a family, a family that she might belong too. That was the breaking point. Leira had to find answers.

And, looking at the strange little town in the distance behind her, and the strange boxes on wheels heading to some sort of platform over the green hill in front of her, looked like a good place to start figuring out some reasons for everything that happened.

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><p><strong>I'm back!<strong>

**Finally, after more than three months absence from Leira's world, I have reentered. I am so sorry for not updating in such a long time. I have just had so many problems with school, and friends, and relatives, and numerous other things that I have not worked on this fanfic at all. Again, I apologize.**

**But I've returned, and hopefully this story will be updated a lot more regularly. I'm sorry for another filler chapter, but the real action, and the real plot of this story, will be happening in the next chapters and forwards. Leira's past, and a little bit of romance, will soon be revealed...**

**Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, read, and just plain stuck with this story. I invite you to check out my other stories as well, including a Harry Potter/Little Mermaid featuring characters from Learning to Stand, to come out soon! And vote on the poll on my profile page, of course.**

**I hope you enjoyed Answers to Be Found and am looking forward to writing more for the story! Salve! **

**Coke and pandas are awesome, by the way. Just thought you'd know.**


	8. DISCONTINUED

I'm really sorry to say that I have decided to discontinue this story. It's been so many months since I updated, and honestly, I just have no drive to write in the Little Mermaid category now. Plus there are lots of other things I feel like I write that would be a better use of my time. Thank you for understanding, and again, I apologise.

**If you have any complaints, please PM me. Thanks.**


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